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| Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2021 Carnival Poster |
Mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez, announced on 8 Oct 2020 that the City Council has had to suspend the 2021 edition of the Carnival to protect citizens against the coronavirus pandemic. The "difficult decision" not to celebrate the carnival festivities in the street next year, is because there are no adequate sanitary circumstances for it. “Right now we are experiencing two emergencies. One is the health crisis and the other is the socioeconomic crisis, which is a consequence of the first one ”, he said this Thursday during a press conference to inform about the news regarding the 2021 Carnival.
The mayor especially emphasized that "there are no sanitary circumstances [that would allow us] to celebrate the carnival as we have always celebrated, in the street and in a free and disorderly way, which is how we like to celebrate it." “Therefore - he continued - Santa Cruz de Tenerife will not celebrate the next edition of Carnival in the way we have been used to celebrating it for 60 years. We cannot celebrate it in the same way as always with thousands of people from here and abroad”. He recalled that the carnival of the Tenerife capital has taken place in it's current form since 1961, so it's "not an easy" decision.
Here, the mayor pointed out that it is a decision motivated by the persistence of the health crisis, since a second wave of the coronavirus is being experienced "that unfortunately we still cannot control"; and by the need to preserve "above all" the protection of citizens. Bermúdez stressed that the Tenerife Carnival has thus been added to other great Spanish festivals such as the Fallas, the Sanfermines or the April Fair, also suspended at the time.
The City Council is working with the Carnival groups on some activities that can maintain the spirit of the festivities during the weeks in which it should have been celebrated, activities that “would allow [us] to keep the flame alive of the party and remind us that we will always have the best carnival in the world ”.
The program of 25 audiovisual activities and multimedia events will be broadcast on television and the internet. The activities incude 7 photography contests; an exhibition at the Casa del Carnaval; a talk show; and five productions that will be broadcast on Televisión Canaria; in addition to different live broadcasts through OAFAR's social networks. All this is complemented by a series of multimedia surprises that will be revealed during the carnival period.
- Wednesday 17 February: Publication of the winners of the popular Carnival Widows Contest - 20:30 on Facebook.
- Wednesday 17 February: The Resurgence of the Sardine: starting gun of the Carnival 2021 - 20:30 on Facebook (also here on YouTube)
- Thursday 18 February: Casa del Carnaval - Inauguration of the Exhibition "Traditional Carnivals of the Canary Islands".
- Friday 19 February: From Queens to Guardians: Presentation of the candidates for "Guardians of the Sceptre" - 21:00 on Facebook.
- Saturday 20 February: Publication of the winners of the Contest The Carnival of your life or how we enjoyed Carnival before 2000 - 19:00 on Facebook.
- Saturday 20 February: Broadcast of the talk show Dialogues of Carnaval I (with designers Leo Martínez + Daniel Pages) - 20:00 on Facebook.
- Sunday 21 February: Publication of the winners of the photography contest, "This year the kids dress up at home" - 12:00 on Facebook.
- Sunday 21 February: Moments to remember: Children's Murgas: El pasacalles de pasacalles (joint performance 2015) - 17:00 on Facebook.
- Sunday 21 February: Broadcast of the talk show Dialogues of Carnaval II (with Maribel Oñate + Dámaso Arteaga) - 20:00 on Facebook.
- Sunday 21 February: Comedy Song Contest - 21:00 on Facebook.
- Monday 22 February: Murgas Adultas: online voting to choose the 10 finalists who will participate in the show "La Canción del Siglo" (The Song of the Century) - from 10:00 on the Carnival Website (continues through Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday).
- Monday 22 February: Parades of Murgas Adultas in the order of participation in the first phase of the 2020 contest - 21:00 on Facebook.
- Tuesday 23 February: Parades of Murgas Adultas in the order of participation in the second phase of the 2020 contest - 21:00 on Facebook.
- Wednesday 24 February: Parades of Murgas Adultas in the order of participation in the third phase of the 2020 contest - 21:00 on Facebook.
- Thursday 25 February: Countdown to the end of online voting.
- Friday 26 February: Announcement of the 10 Murgas finalists who will participate in the show "La Canción del Siglo" (The Song of the Century) - 21:00 on Facebook.
- Saturday 27 February: Publication of the winners of the photography contests "That's how I came out, that's how I got there" and "Don't bark at me mascarita" - 12:00 on Facebook.
- Saturday 27 February: Broadcast of the talk show Dialogues of Carnival III - 20:00 on Facebook.
- Sunday 28 February: Publication of the winners of the "Dress up your balcony" contest - 12:00 on Facebook.
- Sunday 28 February: Broadcast of the talk show Dialogues of Carnival IV - 20:00 on Facebook.
- Wednesday 3 March: La Cantera a show of the children's groups of carnival - 21:30 on Televisión Canaria.
- Thursday 4 March: "Las Voces del Carnaval" (The Voices of Carnival) about rondallas and musical groups - 21:30 on Televisión Canaria.
- Friday 5 March: "La Canción del Siglo" (The Song of the Century) a show from the stage of the "The Fair Recint" dotted with anecdotes and interviews, with live voting to choose the best song of the last two decades - 22:15 on Televisión Canaria.
- Saturday 6 March: The night of the Comparsas a show from the stage of the "The Fair Recint" with live voting where the public chooses the best group - 21:30 on Televisión Canaria.
- Sunday 7 March: "Santa Cruz Corazón del Carnaval" (Santa Cruz Heart of Carnival) a show in which the "Guardians of the Sceptre", a team made up of three former queens of carnival will be chosen through a live voting system - 21:30 on Televisión Canaria and Radio y Televisión Española.
The events scheduled in this virtual edition of the Santa Cruz carnival, conclude with the ‘Santa Cruz, Corazón del Carnaval’ (Santa Cruz, Heart of Carnival) gala, on Sunday 7 March at 21:30 on Televisión Canaria and Televisión Española; in which the three Guardians of the Sceptre will be chosen, made up of former carnival queens, in the adult, child and senior categories. This show of approximately two and a half hours will be punctuated by good humor and many surprises; in addition to appealing to nostalgia and the feeling of hope to once again recover the essence of carnival in the streets of the capital.
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| Mexican Singer Carlos Rivera Image: Marty Berryman Some rights reserved |
Eight Musical Groups that participated in the filming were Chaxiraxi, Caña dulce, Sabor isleño, SiBoney, Teiderife, Salsabor, Cantares Luz de Luna and Los Yuppies, with two members of each to limit the number of people present.
El Carnaval virtual con la elección de las Guardianas del Cetro
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| "La Noche de las Comparsas" |
"Quimbara", by Tropicana, chosen as the best performance in "La Noche de las Comparsas". The performance "Quimbara" (2018), by Tropicana, won the award for the best choreography of recent decades, after a popular vote with which concluded 'La Noche de las Comparsas' (The Night of the Comparsas), television show broadcast last night, Saturday 6 March, in which eight carnival groups competed for this recognition. After more than three hours of broadcasting, presenters, Alexis Hernández and Laura Afonso proclaimed at around 01:30 hours this morning, the troupe led by José Bolaños as the winner of the night. This new accolade was delivered by the mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez, and by councillor for fiestas, Alfonso Cabello.
6. Far West with 9% of the vote
5. Africa 13%
4. The Amazon 16%
3. Otaku - Japan of the 21st Century with 19%
2. Ancient Greece 21%
... and, in a very close first place, the winner is Carnavales del Mundo (Carnivals of the World) with 22% of the vote.
Puerto de la Cruz Carnival
Thursday 11 February 2021 - Election of the Carnival QueenSaturday 13 February 2021 - Proclamatory ParadeWednesday 17 February 2021 - Burial of the SardineFriday 19 February 2021 - Men´s Marathon in High HeelsSaturday 20 February 2021 - Main Parade